Bill Text: FL S1780 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Emergency Drills in Public Schools
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2021-04-30 - Died in Education [S1780 Detail]
Download: Florida-2021-S1780-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1780 By Senator Cruz 18-00480A-21 20211780__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to emergency drills in public schools; 3 amending s. 1006.07, F.S.; revising district school 4 board duties relating to fire drills and emergency 5 drills for active shooter and hostage situations; 6 expanding requirements for district school board 7 procedures relating to drills for active shooter and 8 hostage situations; requiring district school boards 9 to establish procedures to provide advance 10 notification of drills for active shooter and hostage 11 situations to parents and to provide parents with an 12 option to excuse their students from physical drills; 13 requiring such procedures to allow certain students to 14 elect to remain on school premises during physical 15 drills and remain excused from the drills; providing 16 an effective date. 17 18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 19 20 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section 21 1006.07, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (g) is 22 added to that subsection, to read: 23 1006.07 District school board duties relating to student 24 discipline and school safety.—The district school board shall 25 provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the 26 attendance and control of students at school, and for proper 27 attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the 28 welfare of students, including: 29 (4) EMERGENCY DRILLS; EMERGENCY PROCEDURES.— 30 (a) Formulate and prescribe policies and procedures, in 31 consultation with the appropriate public safety agencies, for 32 fire drills and emergency drills for otherand for actual33 emergencies, including, but not limited to,fires,natural 34 disasters, active shooter and hostage situations, and bomb 35 threats, for all students and faculty at all public schools of 36 the district comprised of grades K-12. 37 1.a. Public elementary schools shall conduct at least six 38 fire drills and six emergency drills each school year. 39 b. Four of the six fire drills must involve evacuating a 40 building to a designated meeting location outside of the 41 building. Meeting locations must vary between drills to minimize 42 drill fatigue and the creation of unnecessary exposure to active 43 threats or assailants. Two of the six fire drills may constitute 44 fire prevention training with content designed by the Division 45 of State Fire Marshal or the Department of Education, but only 46 after a minimum of two evacuation drills have occurred. 47 c. Four of the six emergency drills must address active 48 threats, including, but not limited to, active assailants, 49 hostage situations, or bomb threats. Two of the six emergency 50 drills must address natural disasters. 51 2.a. Public middle and high schools shall conduct at least 52 four fire drills and six emergency drills each school year. 53 b. Three of the four fire drills must involve evacuating a 54 building to a designated meeting location outside of the 55 building. Meeting locations must vary between drills to minimize 56 drill fatigue and the creation of unnecessary exposure to active 57 threats or assailants. One of the four fire drills may 58 constitute fire prevention training with content designed by the 59 Division of State Fire Marshal or the Department of Education, 60 but only after a minimum of two evacuation drills have occurred. 61 c. Four of the six emergency drills must address active 62 threats, including, but not limited to, active assailants, 63 hostage situations, or bomb threats. Two of the six emergency 64 drills must address natural disasters. 65 3. All drills must be developmentally and age appropriate, 66 consist of unique sets of circumstances that require faculty and 67 students to consider the response to that specific threat, and 68 be delivered using plain language. 69 4. Drills for active shooter and hostage situations shall 70 be conducted in accordance with developmentally appropriate and 71 age-appropriate proceduresat least as often as other emergency72drills. Procedures relating to drills for active shooter and 73 hostage situations must be developed through consultation with 74 at least one mental health professional and be consistent with 75 the best practice considerations provided by the National 76 Association of School Psychologists. Law enforcement officers 77 must be physically present and directly involved in the 78 execution of all active shooter and hostage situation drills. 79 5.a. District school board policies mustshallinclude 80 commonly used alarm system responses for specific types of 81 emergencies and verification by each school that drills have 82 been provided as required by law and fire protection codes. The 83 emergency response policy mustshallidentify the individuals 84 responsible for contacting the primary emergency response agency 85 and the emergency response agency that is responsible for 86 notifying the school district for each type of emergency. 87 b. District school board policies must address the needs of 88 exceptional education students. 89 (g) Establish procedures to provide notification of drills 90 for active shooter and hostage situations to a student’s parent 91 before a drill occurs and to provide the parent with the option 92 to excuse his or her student from any drills that require 93 evacuation from a building. The procedures must also allow a 94 student whose parent has excused him or her from a drill that 95 requires evacuation from a building to elect to remain on the 96 school premises during the drill and remain excused from the 97 drill. 98 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.